Whip In India
Whip is an official appointed to maintain discipline among, secure attendance of, and give necessary information to, members of his party. The other functions are as follows:
- Serve as channel of communication between party and its members
- Gauge the opinion of the members and communicate it to party leaders.
There are three types of whip viz. one-line, two-line or three-line, depending on the number of times the text is underlined, reflecting the urgency and importance of the whip.
Whip in India
In India, the party whip directs the party members to stick to the party’s stand on certain issues and directs them to vote as per the direction of senior party members. Whip cannot be used in all cases. For example, Political parties cannot issue any direction or whip to members to vote or not in Presidential poll. The implication of a not to follow a Whip on Member’s part is to risk losing their seat in Parliament on account of defection.
Issuing whips is an age-old practice in several mature democracies and their functions are almost same in all of them.
One Line, Two Line and Three Line Whips
The importance of a whip can be inferred from the number of times an order is underlined. A one-line whip, underlined once, is usually issued to inform party members of a vote, and allows them to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line. A two-line whip directs them to be present during the vote. A three-line whip is the strongest, employed on important occasions such as the second reading of a Bill or a no-confidence motion, and places an obligation on members to toe the party line.
Whip in US
In United States, Whip gauges the number of legislators against or in support of a bill and to the extent possible; persuade them to vote according to the party line on the issue.
Whip in UK
In United Kingdom, violation of a three-line whip is taken seriously. Many a times, it can result in expulsion of the member from the party. However, unlike India, it does not amount to defection in UK. A member expelled from the party can continue in Parliament as an independent until the party admits the member back into the party. (280 words)
Analysis: Whip in India and its implications
In India, the concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule. Every major political party appoints a whip responsible for the party’s discipline and behaviour on the floor of the house. Due to the 10th schedule or anti-defection law, a member can potentially result in the MP losing his seat in Parliament if he votes against the party whip. It is observed that many a times, a whip curbs the free individual will of a party member and they are not able to exercise their own judgement and articulate their own opinion. Thus, there is a need to build a political consensus in the country so that enough room can be given for political and policy expression for an individual member. One example is “Free Vote” system of United Kingdom, whereby political parties allow the members to vote as they wish on certain issues.
The fear of losing seat in the house due to anti-defection law, the whip system reduces the MPs to a mere headcount on the floor of the House. It effectively leads to a tendency to develop “forced consensus” on certain issues and bills.
Thus, what is needed is that whip should be some important bills where the survival of the government is in question and not on every ordinary bill.
